And every road you take, will always lead you home (home to my arms)
by MandNwriterzz
Summary: Slight AU. In which Kogami returns and Akane learns to welcome him back, even after all he did. But not before she breaks. Because the movie will never release early enough online :3 R&R fellow writers and readers, M.


**I noticed there wasn't a lot of Konemuri/ ShinKane fanfiction and I was just like _Whaa? What the hell, WHY?!_ Well anyway, this was nagging me a bit... The movie's release online will never happen fast enough so... AU-ish? Read and enjoy! -M.**

**SPOLIER ALERT: DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T COMPLETED SEASON 1**

* * *

Her life was a crazy cycle: eat, sleep, enforce justice, repeat. Eat, sleep, enforce justice, repeat. A monotonous life.

Before she joined the MWPSB it had been slightly different. Eat, sleep, study, repeat. That had been worthwhile though, otherwise she wouldn't be where she was now. But even then she longed for something else, some adventure, some love, some fun.

The ripple that broke her lake of life was the most fascinating person she had ever met- or seen. Unruly, thick, black hair and eyes the perfect color to rival the stormiest gray of a coming storm. Tall, thin and lean. The scent of Spinel cigarettes. That cute smirk. That mysterious aura.

Yes, Kogami Shinya was the man who changed her for good.

But then, like any ripple, he was just a passing disturbance. When he disappeared, he left her changed, wavering, tainted... destroyed. She worked so hard to try to protect him, not allow him to become a killer (something he was scared of becoming). And this was how he re-payed her; stealing her heart with his affectionate teasing, then pushing her away and assassinating Makishima Shogo.

And all for what, just to avenge a dead friend. Tsunemori would often find herself lying awake at night, haunted by the images of Kogami-the letter he wrote was imprinted permanently behind the lids of her eyes- and curse Sasayama Mitsuru (never really sure why she held him responsible... after all, he was _dead.) _because really, if that A-hole womanizer hadn't gotten himself killed, Kogami might have still been an Inspector, (and maybe, just _maybe) _Akane might have found someone she could trust and confide in. Someone she could love.

She had a secret. She told no one; not her grandmother (when she was alive), not her parents, not even Ginoza. Her funny Holo friend is the only one aware of it, but sometimes at night she dreams of Kogami.

She dreams that he appears from flying gravel and dust and runs to shield her body from an onslaught. She sees him smiling sincerely after the case is closed, smiling apologetically and running his hand through his already messy hair, going slightly red. Then she sees herself returning his smile, later his heated gaze (and boy, it feels good, even in her dream).

Akane always wakes up after this moment. For a moment she feels nothing. And then a hot, boiling rage fills her up because she really wants to slap that smile off his face and really doesn't want to think of him in a romantic way. But her brain really doesn't listen, does it? Her Holo friend swoops down on her, blinking red lights in her face.

Because for a few seconds while she thinks all that, her Crime Coefficient rises at an alarming rate and her Psycho Pass clouds. Ironic really, because nothing raises her Psycho Pass to a dangerous point but the one man she fell for.

* * *

Stealthiness was the only tactic Division 1 could use. Akane raised her Dominator to her shoulder as she took one soft step at a time. Gino-san was right behind her; she could here the gentle swishing of his trench coat and the _tap-tap _his shoes. The sound stopped almost immediately: Ginoza was much too professional to not notice his mistake.

Akane glanced back and offered him a small smile. He nodded apologetically and copied her stance as they crept forward. (This was them; This was what Kogami and Akane had) Her earpiece crackled.

"Shepard 1, this is Hound 3. I see him." Sho Hinakawa's quiet voice floated over the line. Akane cursed silently: _Kssa._ Shy Hinakawa had gotten to the madman first.

"Hound 2, stay in contact at all times. Shepard 2, what's your status?" she whispered. Misa Shimotsuki answered her call.

"Approximately thirty metres from Hound 2's position. I will engage the target."

"No!" Akane hissed. "He is dangerous yes, but we may still be able to bring him back to the MWPSB alive. His Psycho Pass can still be lowered so I repeat, do not engage. That is an order." With that she signed off before the Junior Inspector could grumble about her decision.

"Ever the optimist aren't we, Tsunemori?" Ginoza quipped as they picked up the pace, dodging sensors and detectors at every turn. Their target sure knew what he was doing.

"You know my ways Ginoza-san," she said dryly. With one last turn they entered the empty space and ducked behind some crates. Akane began to look around the box but Ginoza pushed her back.

"Enforcers have to do the dangerous work, remember?" he sighed and peeked around the crate. Akane sensed it before she saw it; she yanked on Ginoza's coat, pulling him back just as a the corner splintered at the shot of a bullet. The man fell back on her, wide eyed and a little red.

"Dangerous work yes, but dying at a time like this, no." she scolded him. Raising her voice she said, "Hagane Kou, do not shoot when you see me stand. I will not lift my weapon."

"Tsunemo-" Ginoza began, but she elbowed him painfully and slowly rose to her feet, hands in the air. A quick glance reveals the positions of her team; Hinakawa and Shimotsuki. They're as upset and startled as Ginoza.

Hagane Kou stood in the center of the room, surrounded by piles of explosives. The various wires were drawn into one thick wire that ended at the bottom of a trigger that was currently in Hagane's hand. His other hand gripped an old revolver tightly.

So she spoke to him, that calming and soothing voice of hers floating across the room. The voice that always brought Crime Coefficients down, that always dispersed potential threats.

"Hagane-san," she called out, walking from behind the crates towards the distressed man. "If you put the gun down and the trigger too, we can help you."

The man held up the gun, but his hand was shaking. Akane slowed her pace but kept talking in her soothing voice, "You need to calm down, take a deep breath. This will recover your Psycho-Pass and we will not have to kill you." Her words were affecting him; he lowered his gun slightly, his shoulders slumped just a little.

"You do want to live, don't you?" She doesn't phrase it as a threat, she says it like a revelation; it works and he drops both the trigger and the gun, arms dangling limply at his sides. The crazy look on his face vanishes. She comes closer to him as she lowers her hands, smiling gently. The man tries for a weak smile and collapsed to his knees.

A split second later, a lethal shot from a Dominator hits the ground a mere inches away from the man. Shimotsuki had open fired.

Hagane's eyes bulged slightly and the crazed look returned. Akane cursed the Gods silently (or was Sibyl God?) and kicked the gun away from Hagane who was scrambling to pick it up. She brought her hands up to a defensive stance but Hagane was quick: He grabbed her jacket and curled his fingers into her hair and threw her across the room. She hit the ground rolling, slamming into a wall.

Ginoza's shout was fuzzy as she clutched her head. Her vision splintered when she tried to move and spikes of pain shot down her spine. Something warm trickled down her face. She clenched her teeth and managed to lift herself onto her knees without passing out, although black was creeping in.

Seeing double, Akane looked at the now-psychotic Hagane. Ginoza was trying to shoot him but he kept dodging and Hinakawa and Shimotsuki were both knocked out. Hagane fired at her ex-boss; a cry of alarm rose to her lips and she tried to stand but fell back down, the blood pouring out faster now. Through her dizzy state she saw Ginoza hold up his arm and the bullets embedded themselves in the metal.

The situation was getting worse by the moment. Ginoza couldn't do much with one useless arm; his breathing was already labored. The other were out cold, and her headache was blinding her. Hagane held up his hand, thumb positioned over the trigger. Akane closed her eyes; this was really the end, wasn't it? They hadn't called for backup before they embarked on this mission. Maybe there _was_ backup... No. It was a ridiculous dream. But maybe she could just warn him that she would be leaving.

Maybe she could tell him she would tell him all about it when she saw him again.

"Kogami-san..." she whispered.

Hagane pressed the trigger.

Akane was blown back by the force of the explosion. Already semi-delirious, she watched blankly as her feet left the floor, the man was replaced by the gray of the ceiling; beam after beam, light after light... and then she was falling back to the ground, momentum carrying her head first. She couldn't even brace for the impact.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist as she fell. Her limp form was pulled tight to another, more muscled one. (Male, no doubt.) When they hit the ground, she heard a muffled 'oomph' and then the figure was leaning over her as the debris showered down. Heavy chunks of cement and rock rained on them, but the man above her refused to move although she saw him wince a number of times.

It seemed that the silence came seven forevers later. The man moved to her right and collapsed onto his back with a heavy breath. Akane turned her head to look at him. Gray-blue eyes stared back. That cute smirk. The scent of Spinel cigarettes.

"Did you call, Akane?" Shinya mumbled.

* * *

"That hurt." Akane said grumpily as the Med bot bandaged her head. Yayoi shook her head and exhaled through her nose.

"Stop complaining," she replied tonelessly, pushing off her spot on the wall to come and sit next to her boss. "Why so moody all of a sudden?"

In answer, Akane shot daggers at the reflective glass that separated her from Ginoza, Shimotsuki... and Kogami. The latter was currently being interrogated by the former two. (By the sounds of it, two childhood friends were catching up)

"Ah, _that._" Yayoi bit her lower lip in the effort to hide her smile. "You might want to go meet him."

Akane harrumphed and crossed her arms, sticking her lower lip out petulantly. "And why would I want to do that?"

Yayoi flicked her on the forehead. Almost immediately Akane was transported back to those times when Kogami would do that, telling her off for something or the other. She was so engrossed in her train of thought that she zoned out of what the Enforcer was saying. "...after a year and he _did_ save your life."

The brunette shook her head in defiance. But she found herself feeling guilty all of a sudden and groaned.

"Fine." she said spat, jumping of the medical table and striding toward the door. She threw it open and walked in to the adjoining room.

Four pairs of eyes turned in her direction. Ginoza had a rare smile on his lips and Kogami was trying to stop his snickering. Hinakawa was currently attempting to apply medical tape to Kogami's back. Shimotsuki, who had been glaring at the others up till now, looked at her with fury very visible.

She ignored the looks and walked right up to Kogami, pushing Ginoza aside so she could stand in front of him, face-to-face.

At first, neither party showed any signs of emotion. Then Kogami smiled slightly, the corner of his mouth lifting bashfully. She wanted to claw and kiss him at the same time.

"Yo, Akane." he said softly, tilting his head slightly to one side.

So her anger got the better of her. It happens to everyone, it happened to her when she saw her grandmother's ear in the box, it happened to Ginoza when he saw his father dying. So what, she was allowed to have a breakdown and she could have a violent one if she wanted. Akane slapped Kogami hard across the face.

A hush fell over the small company, so silent that Akane was sure no one was even breathing. Kogami's profile was shocked; she saw him blink once, then twice.

"_Yo._" Akane hissed. "You show up a year later after playing by your own rules, breaking my heart and not being there for your best friend and _all you can say is 'Yo'?!_" Her voice had risen to a screech. Simultaneously, Scanners and Dominators began to beep when they detected her rising Psycho Pass. Ginoza pressed a hand to her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. A scowl on her face, she clenched and unclenched her hands at he side.

To her horror and outrage, Kogami burst out laughing, rubbing his punished face. Akane raised her fist but he caught it before she could swing and tugged her closer. His now grey-blue eyes bore into her own and-much to her own dismay- she was drowning in them. Heat radiated off his bare chest and his face was close to her own. With him sitting, they were approximately the same height.

"What have you done to yourself Akane?" he chided. He grabbed her chin with his hand, surprising her, and turning it from one side to the other. "You look the same, yet your Psycho Pass..." he trailed off because Kogami (that sly bastard) knew she got the message.

In a sudden wave of emotions Akane's heart clenched and eyes burnt and she wanted to hug him and cry and scream and laugh all at the same time. She pulled away from the man she loved, cheeks burning.

"Excuse me." she said and turned on her heel to head out of the door and up to the roof. She thundered up the stairs, simultaneously wiping her eyes and fiddling with something in her pocket.

Akane burst out onto the roof, inhaling deeply. She finally wrestled the object out of her pocket- a box of Spinel cigarettes. From the other pocket she brought out her lighter- Kogami's lighter, the spare he always kept in his desk. Stepping up to the edge she lit it and allowed the scent to fill her nostrils; she relished the smell as it calmed her nerves. (The way Kogami could, at one point)

She burnt her way through three before she finally felt that she had her Crime Coefficient back in control.

"Are those mine?" An amused voice asked behind her. Akane stiffened and refused to look at Kogami when he stood beside her. They stayed that way for minutes, watching the sun set, coating the pair in shades of red, orange and gold.

"Will you allow me to apologize?" Kogami broke the silence first, tone morbid. Akane glanced at him and her breath hitched; his black hair reflected the shades of the setting sun, the angles of his chiseled face cut sharp by the light. He had put his white shirt on but had left the jacket and the tie. The top two buttons of his shirt were open, exposing his collarbone. _Nothing you haven't seen before, so snap out of it!_

"Do you think it makes a difference?" she replied blandly, lighting her fourth cigarette and holding in close to her nose.

"I could try."

She sighed. "I guess you can." The man next to her remained silent for a moment, then rubbed the side of his neck, then ran his fingers through his hair. With that, he faced her with his hands jammed in his trouser pockets.

"I'm a bad influence on you, Akane. I'm a danger, I'm a disgusting, worthless man. I'm a bad person..." he mumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose.

_"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here."_ she quoted, still refusing to look at him. Kogami made a frustrated sound and grabbed her arm, turning her around with a jerk.

"Just take this seriously for a second, will you?" he growled. He dropped the hand that clutched her arm. "I wanted my revenge, okay? That's how I am, I roll by own rules. Makishima killed my friend and I became so obsessed with revenge that I became an Enforcer. I'm shunned by society now and I took it as well as I could but you..." his expression changed. It went from angry and helpless to passionate and protective.

"I saw you want something badly. You wanted to protect me from Sibyl." Akane looked up, startled and locked eyes with him. "Oh yes, I know but-"

"You still left!" she interjected. "You knew what I wanted, why I was doing what I was and you _still_ left!"

"Will you hear me out?!" Kogami snapped back, effectively zipping Akane's mouth. "Yes I knew, but I also knew that Sibyl would eventually have me hunted down."

"So you left because you were scared of dying?" she spat, the forgotten cigarette dropping ashes on their feet.

"I left because I knew you would keep trying to save me and change me, and in the end you would lose something that made you beautiful!"

Akane reeled slightly at this statement. Kogami went on.

"Your Psycho Pass is innocent, pale and clear. You have a unique and beautiful gift of bringing out the best in people, in searching for the good in even the most evil. You were like the bright sun to Division One's gloomy day and when you walked in, you changed everything. And I am so, so grateful to you for that." He lowered his voice and looked down before adding, "With me around, you were dying. That cheer of yours was dying, and it hurt me to see it go. So I went away, because I knew I would be able to keep that cheer alive."

"Well you were wrong!" Akane yelled hotly, ignoring the lump in her throat. "My Psycho Pass clouds every time I think of you now. I think of you and how you betrayed me, _aho._ And I feel so angry because I don't want it to be that way." Her voice broke and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Silence again. They stayed there; him looking down, her trying to hold back tears.

"I left hoping I could one day return as a normal man." Kogami was whispering now. "Whatever I said in that letter was the truth. That maybe this law could be different and that I-" he paused, took a breath. "That I could be worthy of something. And that something is you."

She was crying now, the tears streaming down her face. She had lost something in her heart that she couldn't replace and now it was back. She could take it back.

"Baka." she spat through the tears and lit her fifth cigarette, only this time she put it between her lips and sucked in a breath. Foul smoke clouded her mouth and she blew it out quickly in disgust. "You're a huge idiot."

"Not your type I'm guessing." Kogami said lightly and took the cigarette from her fingers. In two quick breaths he had smoked the cigarette down to its joint.

"You or the cigarette?"

"Why don't you tell me?" he asked, watching her intently. She didn't want to answer that.

"You know you just indirectly kissed me, right?" she said jokingly. Something in Kogami's eyes shifted.

"I'm a hundred percent sure the real thing is better." he said gruffly before pulling her flush against his body and kissing her harshly. She gasped against his mouth and he immediately took advantage of that, slipping his tongue between her teeth and running it along the roof of her mouth. Akane moaned slightly at the contact, standing on her toes and clutching the front of his shirt. She wanted this, she really did.

"Kogami-san," she said breathlessly when they broke away. His grip around her tightened and he lifted her petite form up, wrapping her legs around his waist. Akane's breathing hitched again; she was just a little higher than him now, looking down at the planes of his face, a mere inches away from his lips, breath hot and heavy.

"God, why do you have to be so formal?" he growled and kissed her again, more demanding than the last. This time she kissed him back with the same amount of vigor. She tangled her hands in his hair, tugging at it, letting her lips mold against his, tasting him, breathing him in. Kogami broke the kiss and placed his lips under her jaw causing her to gasp.

"S-Shinya!" she murmured, halfheartedly trying to push him away. The man trailed butterfly kisses down her neck and she hummed in satisfaction.

"That sounds better, doesn't it?" he asked, moving back to her mouth. "I love the way my name sounds on your lips."

The sun sank lower down, the Enforcer and the Inspector silhouetted against its fading glory.

"Took that bastard long enough." Ginoza muttered and smiled to himself as he shut the door quietly.

_Told me not to cry when you were gone_  
_ But the feeling's overwhelming, it's much too strong_

_I don't want to be here if I can't be with you tonight._

* * *

**I know there's OOC. But I think even the calm Akane is allowed to have an outburst. I think this went kinda okay... hopefully... So please do R&amp;R guys! I love those, and critics are welcome too!**

**The last three lines are lyrics from 'Lay Me Down' by Sam Smith.**

**Kisses, M. **


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